Videric: Welcome to the Tales of a Traveller interview, Elv'eng
Elv'eng: Thanks, glad to be here.
Videric: To get us started with the interview, could you tell when did you start role-playing, what games have you played prior or play besides to Ultima Online?
Elv'eng: Well I began with the old pen and paper games, though that was way back around when I was 11-12 years old or something.
Then I had a pause of couple of years, until I got in contact with the Internet, witch was like six years ago when I was in school.
A friend of mine told me about this game Meridan 59, and like all the new people we began playing it with a small "doodish" playstyle. As we got to know the game better and better we began role-playing a bit more. And then I found about Ultima Online, were I am trapped now ;)
Videric: What Pen and Paper games did you play, and how was Meridan 59 compared to UO?
Elv'eng: Dungeons and Dragons, Mutant, Shock, D&D Expert. I can't really remember all of them... It was so long time ago
Videric: The good old boxed P&P sets of D&D I presume?
Elv'eng: Indeed.
And about Meridan 59 vs UO.
You can't really compare the two. But I'll try.
Videric: Could you tell what was it like... what gave the spark to try to role-play there?
Elv'eng: Hard, since most of the players there were just testing it out, as we did in the start. But we found a group that had similar ideas as us, so we just got together and played.
Not that you could make and nice quests (at least I didn't find any), but we tried our best with what we had. But the best of all, we had fun. Witch is most important when playing Online games. At least that's how I view things.
Videric: So what brought you to Ultima Online and how long have you been playing Ultima?
Elv'eng: Well, I was browsing the web, for information about Star Wars Text MUD, something that was quite big in the school I went to, and somehow I stumbled upon the old UO Site (www.owo.com). And began to read about it.
This was just a few days before the beta was suppose to start, so I was too late for that. But I followed it while it was in the beta, and then in January I got a copy of the game. I bought it from a shop here in Stockholm which imports the more stranger games.
Videric: So what shard did you start? Can you tell a bit how you ended up finally to Europa when it was founded?
Elv'eng: Well in the beginning, I was quite alone, my friends had lost the interest in online games so they didn't follow me to UO. But I made a char on Catskills, his name was Alien, a nick I used when I used to play Quake TF and such.
And he became a GM Fisherman!!
Videric: So you did not do much than fish then? :)
Elv'eng: Well that was long before I knew anything about that game, and I played the game about 2-3times a week at most (was on modem 14.4k) so was quite expensive back then.
But I didn't give up! *grins*
I made a new char named Eso, who became a fighter char. I played around there for couple a weeks all alone, and then I meet a guy named Aaron Nightshade. He asked me if I would like to go out and hunt PKs with his group and some other people.
So I teamed up with a group named Order of Light (mostly Germans), and I played with them until Drachenfels server came. Then me and Aaron (who I became quite a good friend with) decided that we should start playing there, and we made contact with a group named ERPA.
We talked a bit with this people in this group, Ogodie and Grim the Grey, and they told that their goal was to collect all the role-playing groups on Drachenfels into a single group, witch we found quite cool.
So we joined up with them. And later (few days) Europa was opened. And ERPA moved there and we moved along. Truthfully we had already considered to move to Europa before ERPA said so, because Drachenfels was more "German" shard then a true European, I guess it's the name ;)
And that is basically how I came to Europa.
Videric: You have been building Deepwater from the beginning, haven't you? Can you tell how it came about?
Elv'eng: Indeed, I am one of the many founders of Deepwater.
It all began on Catskills in fact, OoL (Order of Light) and a guild called BUDO, had an idea to build up a player-run town near the swamps, near Trinsic. Though when we found out of Drachenfels and then Europa was coming we (Me and Aaron) left the shard to start something on Europa.
Me and Aaron were suppose to hold a meeting in Trinsic, or Skara, I can't really remember, it was so long time ago. And I was posting information on a Swedish site, when I stumbled upon a man named Dardan Brooks.
He told me about a group of players who had in mind to build a town too. So we joined their meeting at the Court of Yew, and from there it have just went on and on and on and on ;)
Videric: Your character has an interesting story too, Elv'eng... he wasn't meant to be an elf, if I remember right?
Elv'eng: Yea, he was supposed to be a bald human!
*Elv'eng grins*
But it just didn't work out!
Well thing was, I was wearing a green hat all the time, and people always greeted me Elf, Mr.Elf, Sir Elf etc etc. So soon I just made him into an Elf, and made a small story why he was bald and had gotee.
*Videric grins*
Videric: So what could you say you have learned in Ultima Online over the years?
Elv'eng: Just to respect others ides/playstyle really, I've done most of them, guess many of old people have.
Videric: Can you tell anything of idea about Carebearing?
Elv'eng: Well, It has just gone trough different phases.
It all started when Team DK (old Team DK) was attacking Deepwater in the beginning, then we brought in the idea of Carebears from an other shard.
And we still are forced to use the carebear tactics to this day, to protect against griefers.
Videric: What have you learned with Deepwater, and what kind of tips would you give people making new establishments?
Elv'eng: Be stubborn, don't give up. Even though it might seams hard sometimes. Else a town will fail.
Very much like Deepwater, it might be low on people, BUT people haven't left it completely and we do have events now and then. There are some stubborn people still in Deepwater, and that is why it is still alive, else it would be gone.
Videric: I think it is time for the final classical question. What is your most remarkable or unforgettable moment(s) in Ultima Online?
Elv'eng: Well, on Catskills it must have been when I fished up my first fish!
*Elv'eng grins*
On Europa then? I had so many.
Videric: Well say several
Elv'eng: But once Lord British came to Deepwater, that was quite unforgettable moment:
One day I was just strolling around in the Yew woods, when Palmer sent me a ICQ and said he had a damm important message for me.
And asked that I should be at the Owl's Eye (Tavern in Deepwater) next day at certain time, because something intresting was about to happen.
Naturally I got abit more intrested in what was to darn imporent, so began to bug Palmer about it. So after while he said that
Lord British were going to show up in Deepwater (this happend looooong time before RG (aka Lord British) left Origin / EA). Some of us
who meet him are still around, and will be around for some time more. Atleast I hope so.
Another was when the first quest began on Europa, the Kalera's quest, or Haven's gate as it was known as, witch was the first Seer quest on Europa.
And of course, the when we placed the first house in Deepwater.
Videric: Do you have anything to add, or say before we end this? grins
Elv'eng: Not realy, just that people should keep their gaming spirit up, and I am sure we'll have another good UO year.
Videric: Thank you for coming to the interview, it was great to have you here Elv'eng!
Elv'eng: Thank you.
Interviews
